Priyadarshini Museum is one of the most important and popular museums of Kerala. The museum is located in Thiruvananthapuram. The museum lies within the compounds of the Kerala State Science and Technology Museum. Priyadarshini Museum is a planetarium with many advanced equipments and projectors. The planetarium was set up as a tribute to scientific and technological advancements which has been achieved by the Indian space agency through the decades.
Priyadarshini Museum houses a variety of Indian as well as foreign space shuttles. Photographs from the lunar missions, missions to mars and many other such missions decorate the walls of the museums. It is one of the best sophisticated planetariums in India.
The edifice of the Priyadarshini Museum is oriented horizontally. The ceiling of the museum is doomed. Here the images of the celestial bodies and other astronomical phenomena are projected with the aid of a powerful ocular device. Priyadarshini Museum houses a Sky theatre, workshops, sound studios etc. The sky theatre is place where all the shows are conducted. The planetarium also has a conference hall. The planetarium can accommodate 184 persons at a time and has global standards. The sitting arrangements in the museum is quite modernised and is also comfortable. A very huge projector is also installed here which portrays all the visible parts in the Universe.
In Priyadarshini Museum, the Universe is shown in such a manner to the spectators that it makes them captivated and mesmerised. It also makes the viewers forget about the actual proximity from earth. Many important and interesting shows are conducted here like `The Man and the Universe.` This shows the origin and the developmental stages of astronomy, its constitution and feature of planets and the origin of Universe. Other shows that are conducted here is `Myriad Suns` which deals with the origin and end of stars, neutron stars, galaxies, black holes, nebula and supernova and so on. Besides there are some exhibits here which include models of rockets, airplanes etc. the Priyadarshini Museum is a must visit for the space enthusiasts who are interested in astronomy. It is also a heaven for the science scholars who visit the place for observing a number of celestial events.